Just Another Christmas Story
by FreelanceDreamer
Summary: A Christmas story that revolves around Ukitake Jushiro and an established OC. A fluffly and perhaps slightly OOC story that I really wanted to get out of my system because it's the holidays. Nanao and Shunsui are also thrown in but they're not too important in this story.


Hello all! I'm back from the dead! Well here's my first crack at writing a Bleach fanfic. And who better to start with than my favourite captain Ukitake Jushiro? I do love him so, I really do. This is kind of a late birthday as well as Christmas story. Probably overly fluffy and a bit OOC but I like it. And of course I had to throw in some Shunsui and Nanao because I love them too. Please read and review. This is unbetaed so any and all spelling/grammar mistakes are mine. Enjoy and Merry Christmas/ Happy Holidays!

* * *

Ukitake Jushiro couldn't think of a time when he'd been more relaxed. Well, he could but he would have had to go quite a ways back. It was Christmas, and he had everyone he loved around him, Shunsui and Nanao was there; the couple had been together for a couple of years and Jushiro was surprised that Shunsui hadn't put a ring on her finger yet. He looked at her as if his universe begun and ended with her, a feeling that Jushiro could relate to. Looking down at his wife Jushiro pressed a kiss to her temple.

Ukitake Kagomei, his wife of five years and the centre of his universe. Her hair grew opposite to how his had, growing out white initially and then changing to a raven black as the length reached down almost as long as his own. Her blue eyes had a clarity to then that was unparalleled in any that he had seen in all of his years before her. She was 5'6, which meant she fit perfectly against his body when he pulled her into him. Her skin was pale, pale enough that one could see the deep blue veins that carried blood through her arms. She could hold her own though, the muscles on her arms and abdominals reminded him that she was stronger than she looked, even when you couldn't see any of them under the clothes she stole from him.

If anyone had told him 10 years ago that he would one day be married to a beautiful woman who loved him in ways he couldn't even imagine he would have laughed and carried on. For his whole like Jushiro had been convinced that he would never burden another with the love of a dying man, a man who hadn't had a full night's sleep for so long that he couldn't remember what it felt like. A man who couldn't always make love because he feared coughing blood and disgusting whomever happened to be sharing his bed. A man who had been so convinced that he was going to die alone that he didn't believe it when the woman sitting next to him had asked him to marry her.

That had been the best night of his life.

"…so I think I'm going to take off all of my clothes and make violent love to Zaraki."

"That's tricky business. I should chaperone!"

_WHACK!_

"My Nanao-chan is so cruel! Cruel cruel Nanao-chan!"

Jushiro chuckled, "I was listening, you know."

Kagomei laughed and looked up, idly playing with the ends of his hair, "You were not."

"Was so."

"Was not. What was I saying?"

"….."

"Busted Jyuu." Shunsui's laugh was deep.

Jushiro threaded his fingers through his wife's and smiles sheepishly. He knew that she wasn't really mad at him but he did feel a bit bad for zoning out on her and his guests, even if they were only Shunsui and Nanao. Tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, he tilted her chin towards him so he could capture her lips with his own for a chaste kiss.

He grinned, "Shall we open some gifts?"

Before she could answer Shunsui had already let out a triumphant whoop and had reached for his own gifts. People said many things about Shunsui but no one could say that he was a greedy man; he loved the holidays just because he could give something to those who meant the most to him. And his knack for people meant he usually had the best gifts. Kagomei shifted so that she was sitting next to Nanao and thus closer to the presents that they had managed to gathered for their friends.

A half hour later they'd successfully opened all of the gifts, little piles were at the feet of the four people in the room. Shunsui's had been the funniest all around; he'd given Jushiro a set of plastic pills that when immersed in water would grow to be hospital staff. He'd given Kagomei a sheet of stickers with the character for "I" printed on them because most people spelled her name without it. Lastly he'd given Nanao, "the key to his heart" which he insisted was real and that she could try out later if she so wished.

After all the gifts had been given out Kagomei had moved back to her spot next to her husband, tracing patterns into his palm.

"I'm glad we had today." Her voice was barely above a whisper, not that it mattered when Shunsui and Nanao had gone into the kitchen to get the food ready.

Jushiro smiled softly as he pulled her into his lap, her weight a reassurance against his own and one he was glad to be able to accept. It wasn't every day that he was able to hold his wife in his arms and love her, but he never took it for granted when he could.

"We can have tomorrow too if you like, you know."

"Mmm, don't lie. We both have work tomorrow."

"So?"

"So we have to work. And besides, we're going to have a party to plan."

Jushiro arched an eyebrow, "A party? For who?"

Kagomei looked towards the kitchen where they could clearly see Shunsui lean down and steal a kiss from his beloved Nanao-chan. A chaste kiss that quickly deepened as he pulled her closer, his large hand covering her hips as he tightened his grip to match the one Nanao had on his shoulder.

Kagomei grinned, "He's going to propose. I just know it."

Jushiro met her gaze and nodded solemnly. "Ahhh right. You're esp. I'd forgotten."

She rolled her eyes and punched his arm lightly, "I'm serious Jushiro. It's obvious. He has to."

"He does?"

"Well he'd be a fool not to."

The couple smiled at each other and just as they did an infant's cry could be heard from the street outside, causing their heads to turn.

"Must be Kiyone and Sentaro," Jushiro murmured. The couple had had a child only about a month before.

Kagomei smiled, "He's a cutie that Hatori. How much time did you give him off work? Surely having both your third seats off must be a strain."

Jushiro shrugged, "Rukia is doing a brilliant job. Sentaro's not supposed to come back for another month."

Kagomei opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by a squeal that came from the kitchen. Looking over, it was obvious that Shunsui had asked Nanao to marry him. Said woman was currently wrapped around the aforementioned man, her arms locked around his neck his were similarly wrapped around her, holding her to him. Looking over Nanao at Jushiro and Kagomei, Shunsui gave them a grin and a thumb up before returning his attention to his fiancé.

Kagomei waggled her eyes at her husband who just sighed and laughed tiredly. The _I told you so_ floated between them wordlessly.

"I love you!"

"I love you too, I still think he told you."

"He's your best man Jushiro."

"Yes, but I expect that our roles are going to be reversed very soon."

Kagomei stretched out on the couch, resting her head on Jushiro's lap and studying the curve of his jaw as if she hadn't memorized it years before.

"Do you miss it?" Her eyes met his.

He gave her a questioning look, "Miss what?"

She made a gesture with her hand, "The post-marital bliss."

Jushiro chuckled and stroked down her cheek and the curve of her neck, "I'm still as much in love with you as I was five years ago."

"What about a year from now?"

Jushiro frowned, "I'll love you more. What's wrong? You know I love you."

Kagomei smiled softly, nodding lazily, "We're going to be tired, and our home is going to be crowded."

Jushiro looked back at the kitchen where Shunsui and Nanao were just breaking apart from their embrace, but still very close together. Something Jushiro suspected they would be for the next couple of days if not the rest of their lives.

"I'm pretty sure Shunsui and Nanao are going to move in together, not in with us. And I highly doubt we'll be able to hear them from Eighth."

Kagomei laughed and the sound made Jushiro heart skip a beat.

She took his hand and placed a kiss on it before pressing her hand against her abdomen, Jushiro could feel the muscle underneath the clothing she was wearing. He knew what they looked like like he knew the back of his hand. Although, he'd spent a considerable more amount of time tracing her stomach with his tongue. The muscled felt different though, softer.

Rounder.

Jushiro shot forward so fast Kagomei had to grapple onto him to keep from hitting the floor. Before she could explain he had her pressed against the futon, her shirt pressed up to almost the curve of her breasts, inspecting the very subtle bump on her stomach. She wanted to sit up, but the look on his face was so determined that she decided to leave him be.

"How far?" His words were a whisper.

"Um," she swallowed, speaking becoming hard all of a sudden. "Unohana-taichou said about 10 or 11 weeks…I figure it would have been around – "

"Your birthday."

Kagomei nodded, "Yeah."

Suddenly, Jushiro shot up again, taking his wife with him.

"But you weren't sick! You were fine! You were working – " he gasped, "You were _fighting._"

"Jushiro, I didn't know! I didn't know until I went to the Living World. Remember, I told you I wasn't feeling well. Ichigo's father did an ultrasound…"

"Is it healthy?"

She grinned, "They are."

Kagomei reached out for Jushiro when he paled.

"They?" His voice shook as he placed his hand once again on her stomach.

She nodded and he closed his eyes. She wanted to ask him what he was doing but she was silenced when she felt his reiatsu flow into her body. It was different from when she was being healed in Fourth because it flowed into her body, not through it. She watched him for another moment, wanting to see what he was doing. Her eyes widened when she realized what he was doing, she felt his touch against the two extremely faint reiatsus in her body.

She hadn't known her hands to be shaking until Jushiro covered them with his own. His smile grounding her to the here and now and keeping her from breaking down.

"We're going to have a baby."

She nodded dumbly, feeling the full force of his words more than when she had seen the heartbeat of her children on Isshin Kurosaki's screen.

She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him close to her because despite everything that had been through she knew that nothing could hurt her or her children in his arms.

"Yare yare Nanao-chan, what have we walked in on?" Shunsui's deep voice reverberated through the room as Jushiro and Kagomei pulled apart.

Jushiro grinned at the newly engaged couple, "We're pregnant."

Kagomei laughed at the expressions on their faces just a moment before Shunsui had engulfed her in a hug right before Nanao did the same. Everything passed as a blur for Kagomei for the next bit while Shunsui congratulated Jushiro and made some jokes.

Later, when the newly engaged Shunsui and Nanao had gone back to their own place, no doubt to celebrate, Jushiro and Kagomei settled back down. Ever since her announcement, Jushiro had refused to let go of her, he always had a hand on her, on her shoulder or her waist. Always touching, always _protecting_.

Picking her up in his arms he carried her to the room they shared together, depositing her gently onto the bed and placing a kiss to her forehead before changing into the clothes he slept in. Stretching out beside her on the bed he placed his hand on top of her on her abdomen, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

"I love you." The words were whispered against the skin above her heart.

"Always, Jushiro."

* * *

_5 months later._

Jushiro used a damp cloth to wipe away the sweat on his wife's forehead.

"You didn't have to do that. You should have had the surgery."

A strained chuckled was the only answer that he got from his very tired wife, lying with her eyes closed on the bed next to him.

"Ukitake-taichou, I suggest you not berate your wife. She did just deliver your two children." Unohana's serene voice sounded from behind him and Jushiro coughed.

"Yes sempai."

Jushiro watched as Unohana placed his son in the arms of his wife. The boy, along with his sister had been born with a dusting of black hair on their heads, a testament to the black hair Jushiro used to have. But they had their mother's blue eyes. Everything else was a toss-up at the moment, depending on who you asked the features came from either parent.

Jushiro stared down at his daughter as she was placed in his arms. He couldn't look away from the 4 pound 8 ounce bundle in his arms, not that he wanted to.

"Do you have names chosen?"

Jushiro shrugged, "I'm not too-"

"Akihiko."

Jushiro blinked and looked over at his wife, who was staring at the son in her arms. He smiled as he settled in the chair next to her bed.

"Akihiko? That was my father's name."

"I know."

Jushiro wanted to envelop his wife in a hug, but even if she wasn't holding their son she would still be in no condition for that.

Jushiro looked back down at his daughter, "I want to name her Kira."

There was a moment of silence before he looked back at Kagomei and he could have sworn his heart broke. The tears ran freely down her face even though she was smiling at the bundle in her arms.

"That was my sister's name."

"I know."

"She died."

"I know. Kagomei."

"I love you."

He carefully maneuvered his daughter into one of his arms and used the other to squeeze his wife's shoulder.

"Always, Kagomei."


End file.
